Friday 2-26-2010

To finish off our week, and more importantly our trip to Naples, we had another early start so that we could: a) check out of our hostel, and b) maximize our time with our Neapolitan tour guide Alexander Valentino. We met up with him in the heart of the city and right away we could tell that the city of Naples ran through his blood. He had his black beanie barely covering his whole head, with his black and gray hair slightly peeping out the sides. He was up front, historically accurate, and more than anything intriguing. He told us all about how people from Naples were known for stealing and drug dealing, while at the same time weren’t widely recognized as the passionate, engaging people that he exemplified so much. Our walk with him wasn’t clearly cut into different sections of lecturing, but it was rather a mix of historical facts, with cultural observations, paired with his own life story. It was a unique blend of information that we could only find in someone who truly loved the city that they had spent a majority of their life in.



After briefly walking around Naples we got on a tram that took us to the top of the city where we then hopped on a metro to the true “outskirts” of the city. None of us really knew what to expect, other than the fact that Alex told us that where we were headed was rough and drug-infested. Initially no one really knew what to think as a mix of nervousness and adrenaline filled our veins. As soon as we got off the train we were greeted with what looked like a third-world country. Alex took us to some of the biggest “architectural disasters” in all of Europe. They were horrendous buildings that were packed with families, with trash everywhere, and drugs seeming to consume everything that was around us. He told us that years ago these buildings were established as temporary housing, for very poor people, until they could find better housing. As the years progressed the government did absolutely nothing to keep the housing sanitary so people just stopped paying rent and you could easily see why.



As we stood and stared wide-eyed at the buildings a man named Gianni, who was a very nice local who lived in the area, began to tell us all about the history of the buildings (in Italian as Alex translated). After answering a couple of questions he asked if we wanted a tour of the building and immediately, almost everyone said yes emphatically. As impossible as it seems, the conditions on the inside were even worse than the outside. The elevator that was there had never functioned in over 30 years, there were almost no windows still intact, and years of trash had literally been shoved into vacant rooms. It was a mess, however, every person that we walked by very nicely said “ciao”. Our tour guide Gianni wanted nothing more than to help us better understand the area and despite the conditions that these people were living in they were happy. We continued to walk and before we stopped to get a coffee and leave town, we passed even more “project-like” buildings, more trash on the road, and even a dead dog that looked like it had been there for days.



We said goodbye to Gianni as he happily shook our hands and kissed us on the cheek and then we headed back on the metro to grab some lunch at another fantastic spot in Naples. As we sat at two separate tables and talked, people couldn’t believe what we had seen. Not because it was not worthy it, or because it was a waste of time, but the exact opposite. Nearly every single person in the program was incredibly glad that we went where we did because it was an eye-opening experience to say the least. “How can we complain when we have so much, when those people had nothing and still greeted us with smiles?” This question was asked at the table in many different ways, but the same overall message was clear. We hadn’t experienced anything like that in Italy thus far, and we were incredibly thankful to be reminded that there are parts of Italy, just like every country that don’t have the “Disneyland feel to it”. There are parts of Italy that look like third-world countries, but it still seemed like the poorer the people were, the more generous that they were (weird to think about that huh?).



After lunch we quickly headed towards our last destination of the week: one of the castles of Naples. Once we arrived we were in awe of the sheer size of the concrete walls that protected the castle. We made our way to the top and we greeted by once of the most fabulous views that we could have imagined: a 360-degree view of Naples from one of the highest points in the city. We could see the ocean, the business district, and everything in between. Everyone went their own way taking pictures at the top of this breath-taking castle, until we came together at the end of class for a group picture at the top of Naples. To say the least, it was amazing, and more importantly it was the perfect way to end our brief stay in the beautifully loud city of Naples.

Thursday 2-25-2010

Our whole class met at the Portone below our classroom at 7:15 in order to catch the bus to Termini. We all made it and hopped on to the train for our two and a half hour ride to Napoli. Once we arrived, we were greeted by all of the loud noise and chaotic atmosphere that was foretold to us by all. A street demonstration was going on (from what we could tell it was some sort of labor dispute) so that meant that the buses were shut down so we ended up walking to our hostel, which turned out to be much nicer than any of us anticipated.



Following a brief break we reconvened and headed to one of Lisa’s favorite restaurants in Naples called De Matteo. We sat down and took up over half the room in the second story of the restaurant as we glanced over our menus. Almost the second that a menu was in everyone’s hand, their was a loud mumble about how unbelievably cheap the food in Naples was. Sounds of “4.00 Euros for a pizza!” and “Coke is only 1.50” were rampant throughout the room. Once our food arrived there was even more commotion. I think that it was unanimous that the pizza at this restaurant, and across Naples, was some of the best, if not the best, pizza in the world. Contrary to what many of us thought the pizza was much thicker than we were accustomed to throughout the rest of Italy. Overall, the food was amazing.



We then made our way to a nice little piazza where we sat down on the stairs that were highlighted by the sun and grabbed a coffee. A couple of us had to register for classes for spring quarter at an Internet café, while the rest of the class headed to the archeological museum. It is one of the most well renowned museums in Europe and housed the Hercules statue. It also was home to a large share of art from Pompeii as well as other parts of Italy. We were free to roam around so after about an hour or hour and a half the class had left. Some went shopping, some toured the city, and some went back to rest up at the hostel. Either way it was a very eventful day as we attempted to discover as much as we could about the city that was so new to all of us.

Wednesday 2-24-2010

Today we started bright and early as we continued to discover who Caravaggio was a man, artist, and historical figure. Our walk began with a tour outside of a closed church in which a Caravaggio painting was held. Although we weren’t able to see the painting inside, we had an interesting discussion about the life and crimes of the artist. We were also fortunate because the church that we were standing outside of was right next to a palace in which Caravaggio lived for a period of his life.



Following our discussion we headed over to the Caravaggio exhibit. We hiked up a steep hill and found ourselves standing at the top of Rome, right next to the President of Italy’s residence. After a brief wait, we found ourselves inside the museum and it couldn’t have been more reminiscent of who Caravaggio was. The walls that housed the paintings were a very dark red and the halls were very dimly lit with the exceptions of the light on the paintings themselves. We were able to explore painting after painting, with a description of the piece of art and some historical information to go along with it. After viewing two floors of his paintings we were greeted by a fantastic view of Rome on our way out the exit. The exhibit was fantastic and even Caravaggio himself would have been happy with the way in which his paintings were displayed.



Once we were done with our break we headed to Italian class with some questions prepared for Fede. We had a discussion in order to touch up on what we were confused about in preparation for the final we have coming up next Wednesday. It was definitely one of the most helpful days that we have had thus far, plus we had the chance to invite Fede to our group dinner we would be celebrating that night.

We arrived at 6:30 to a potluck in Julie’s apartment. We we’re greeted with potatoes, burgers, hot dogs, polenta, pizza and a number of other fantastic foods to choose from. First and foremost we were there to celebrate Julie’s daughter Isabelle’s tenth birthday, which we most definitely did. Secondly, we we’re there to get squared away on our trip to Naples the next morning. After handing out the itinerary we went over a couple of items (what to bring, when to leave, etc.) and then headed back to our apartments for a short night of sleep.

Tuesday 2-23-2010

Today was interesting. We woke up this morning to perhaps the warmest day that we have had in the last two months. The sun was breaking through the clouds the whole day, and the blue skies and rare heat were a nice surprise. We all met up at the Portone at around 12:30 and made our way to the first metro ride of the day. It took us to the outskirts of the city where we met up once again with our friend the Italian-American professor from Cornell. Once we met up with him, we had a very interesting conversation about the gentrification of poorer people in Rome and the architecture that has the ability to tell the stories of so many second-generation immigrants.







After this we continued our tour through the city: seeing a grocery store that was a former factory, an interesting park, and a comfortable wall. Despite all of the movement Natalia still had time to register for classes at the internet point during the tour. As we said goodbye to our gracious tour guide the adventure began. We hopped on a bus and headed for the metro.

We sat on the metro and waited through about thirteen or fourteen stops then got off to be welcomed once again by the bright blue skies and warm arms of the sun. While we soaked up some sun outside the station we waited for where we were going next, only to realize that we had missed the right station by ten stops because we had been given the wrong directions. By this time it was already 4:30 so some of us left while Nick and Guilia went with Julie to the chocolate factory. Because it was such a beautiful day no one was all that mad or upset with missing the chocolate factory because we walked off the bus to a scenic scene of the sun shining down on the Circio Maximo. Today like so many others, was an adventure but we all had a great time and picked up some new facts from our guy with the awesome accent. Pray that the weather stays nice. Catch up with you soon.

Monday 2-22-10

Today was another wonderful day in Rome. Although we had a bit of a rough start with some rain, it cleared up and overall it was warm and beautiful. At 10 this morning, we started out on our journey to Piazza Navona, which was a fantastic start to week 8. With Lauren as our guide, we pushed through the streets and explored the possibilities of the oval-shaped Piazza. The foundation of Lauren's presentation was based on the fact that in ancient times, this space was used for circuses, jousts, carnivals, and other theatrical displays.

Sadly, after this brief introduction, we wandered into the center of the square to see that the Bernini's Four River Fountain, which was the glue to Lauren's entire project, was completely barricaded and walled-off for "further renovations".



Although there were four tiny windows that allowed us to make the best of a bad situation, Lauren improvised and had a strike of creative genius. Instead of simply viewing the fountain, we became the fountain. Conner took on the position of the obelisk. Natalia portrayed the Nile River, Erika the Rio de la Plata, Giulia the Ganges, and Nick the Danube. Carisa and Stephanie joined in as some of the additional decorations of the fountain, and armadillo and a lion. This gave us a feeling of the movement that the real fountain would have given off, if it was in action and uncovered.



Lauren's presentation was a nice way to ease the class back into session to begin this week, although it's safe to say that the main anticipation for everyone in the program is geared towards our trip to Naples this Thursday. We look forward to filling you in on the rest of the week, we can't wait to talk to you again tomorrow!!!

Carisa & Mick

Friday February 19th

It is raining again for Julie’s class and there is a bus strike! Noon arrived, and the weather finally shined upon Julie’s class—sunny and warm with a light wind. We met Shara at the front of the Rome Center and decided to see a short introduction about Chris Burden (a famous contemporary artist known for his performance art).

Ten minutes later, we boarded bus 492 for Gagosian Gallery to witness the legendary work of Chris Burden—his exhibit named The Hear: Open or Closed.

The upscale location of this gallery conveyed the quality and fame of Burden’s works. We ascended the stairs to first face Burden’s creation of Dreamer’s Folly (2010), a “series of three highly ornamental cast-iron gazebos reminiscent of those common to traditional English gardens.” (as described by its press release). We sat in this rather delicate structure as we listened to Shara’s description of the purpose of such art. We then proceeded to Burden’s Nomadic Folly ( 2001), an Arabian-like nomad tent with oriental carpets, plush pillows, silk curtains, glass lamps, and seductive Turkish-Armenian music. Such a soothing bed of art eased our minds and lulled us into a dream-like state as we drifted in and out of consciousness. Shara’s words flowed with the calming breeze and rested against our ears. A few more minutes and we were out the door, rejuvenated and ready for MACRO (Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome). This time, we stopped outside of the city walls. The architecture, as Shara explained, was more French in style. We strolled along Via dei Villini and surveyed the villas as prospective buyers.

Finally, we entered the gates of MACRO.

The first showpiece at the center of the entrance was a black steel tower. One climbs it to venture through the artist’s mind as this tower is filled with the artist’s experiences and emotions. Then it was up to the second level. We carefully tiptoed through strange metal grids, studied concealed beetle covered artworks through floor mirrors, and rolled along edges of walls decorated with miniscule framed art (we had some fun attempting yoga on the carpeted floor). After a few brief visits to other rooms of contemporary art, we left this interesting complex.

It was an end to a great day and week (perfect for walking too)!

Ciao amici,

Alexis and Teo

Thursday February 18th

“We will be pilgrims today.”

—Erika Fisher

Our day started with the usually weekly morning check-ins for our independent research project from 10am to 12am. The sun is out. Glorious! A perfect day for our 3 o’clock pilgrimage walk. On this oddly warm winter day, we crossed the Ponte Sant’Angelo and marveled at the scenic landscape that crescendoed to the emergence of St. Peters basilica and piazza.

The pilgrims stop for a brief photo op

The route inspired nonstop exclamations of wonder. When we finally arrived, Erika was ready to get down to business. Her presentation began with explanations of the piazza and all it contained: the fountains, columns (standing at two foci that give the illusion of one column though three are behind it), and the layout of the piazza. We now know which fountain is older, the history of the piazza, and piazza’s architecture. Good job Erika!

After Erika’s presentation, we moved through security to enter St. Peters basilica. The grand scale of the structures inside was breathtaking, with eight feet cupids! This time no angry security personnel hunted down tourists with cameras. We can take photographs, with flash?! Lisa enlightened us. Yes, all the art here contains no frescoes due to the past fear of flooding that would ruin artworks. Thus, all the decorations are done in mosaic. None of us could believe the details of the mosaic, so perfectly laid that it rivaled some of the best paintings. As we tried to learn more about this basilica, a Vatican guard angrily silenced us and threatened “banishment” from the church if we continued our group-talk during mass. No matter. We wandered around just as mass started and studied some of the huge sculptures.

The sunset was picturesque. It was an excellent time to climb Castel San Angelo and see the entire city against a glowing horizon. Amazing! The refreshing breeze ruffled our hair as we took countless pictures against a backdrop of a radiating St. Peters. Thanks Erika for all our pictures, faces basked in warmth from a honey sunset. Just beautiful. Some left and a few stayed behind to witness Rome at nighttime. All the lamplights turned on and flooded the entire city in a surreal romance. Below is the proof.

Later that night some of pilled into the Rome Center and enjoyed our movie date with Roman Holiday and the iconic Audrey Hepburn

Until the next sunrise, ciao Roma!

Alexis and Teo